Reproductive anatomy and embryogenesis of a viviparous, phonotactic, parasitoid fly

Abstract

Ormia ochracea (Bigot 1889) is a phonotactic parasitoid fly that targets a variety of field cricket species as hosts for their developing young. Female flies locate their hosts by tracking a male cricket’s courtship song. Viviparous larvae are then deposited on or near the host which they then pierce and penetrate, completing larval development within the cricket’s abdomen. Here, we describe Ormia male and female reproductive tracts exposed through micro-surgery and imaged with a variety of microscopic techniques. We also describe for the first time, both embryonic and early larval development that takes place within the female flies’ “uterus.” Special note is made of the phenomenon of intra-uterine embryonic growth, and prospects for accessing gametes or germ-cells for molecular engineering are discussed.